Challenge response-based device authentication system and method

ABSTRACT

A challenge response scheme authenticates a requesting device by an authenticating device. The authenticating device generates and issues a challenge to the requesting device. The requesting device combines the challenge with a hash of a password provided by a user, and the combination is further hashed in order to generate a requesting encryption key used to encrypt the user supplied password. The encrypted user supplied password is sent to the authenticating device as a response to the issued challenge. The authenticating device generates an authenticating encryption key by generating the hash of a combination of the challenge and a stored hash of an authenticating device password. The authenticating encryption key is used to decrypt the response in order to retrieve the user-supplied password. If the user-supplied password hash matches the stored authenticating device password hash, the requesting device is authenticated and the authenticating device is in possession of the password.

REFERENCE TO PRIOR APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.12/428,170, filed Apr. 22, 2009, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 10/996,369, filed Nov. 26, 2004, claiming priorityfrom U.S. Application No. 60/568,119, filed May 4, 2004, which areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to the field of communications,and in particular to a challenge response system and method.

2. Description of the Related Art

Mobile devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), cellularphones, wireless communication devices and the like, are occasionallyconnected to a user's desktop system in order to synchronize informationbetween the user's desktop system and their mobile device. Informationsuch as a user's calendar, task list and phone book entries are examplesof information that is routinely synchronized between the desktop systemand the mobile device.

Such information is usually of a sensitive nature and should be secured.The user is thus provided with an option to specify a device password onthe mobile device in order to secure the mobile device and prevent useof the device without knowledge of the device password.

When the mobile device is connected to the desktop system in order tosynchronize information, the mobile device issues a challenge to thedesktop system in order to determine if the desktop system is authorizedto initiate a connection with the mobile device. The desktop system thenprovides a response to the mobile device. If the response provided bythe desktop system matches the response expected by the mobile device,then the desktop system is allowed to connect to the mobile device andproceed to synchronize information.

Typically, the issued challenge is a request for the hash of the userpassword. A hash function, such as SHA-1, is a one-way function thattakes an input or varying length and converts it into a unique output.The hash of the password provided by the user of the desktop systeminitiating a connection is sent to the device in response to thechallenge by the mobile device. If the response matches the stored hashof the device password, the desktop system is allowed to connect to themobile device and proceed to synchronize information.

The device password is typically not stored on the device. Only the hashof the device password is stored on the device. However, since thedevice password itself is not stored on the device, certain operationsrequiring use of the device password cannot be performed if only thehash of the device password is available on the mobile device. Forinstance, if the information on the mobile device is encrypted using thedevice password, then the device password must be supplied in order todecrypt the information prior to synchronizing with the desktop system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication system for use with arequesting device and authenticating device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a further communication system for use withmultiple devices.

FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of a prior art challenge-responsemethod.

FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of a challenge-response method fora requesting device and authenticating device.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a mobile communication device for use withthe method illustrated in FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In accordance with the teachings provided herein, systems and methodsare provided for a challenge response scheme within which a secret, suchas a password, may be securely transferred between a requesting deviceand an authenticating device. As an example of a system and method, theauthenticating device generates a challenge that is issued to therequesting device. The requesting device combines the challenge with ahash of a password provided by a user of the requesting device, and thecombination of the hash of the password and the challenge is furtherhashed in order to generate a requesting encryption key that is used toencrypt the user supplied password. The encrypted user supplied passwordis sent to the authenticating device as the response to the issuedchallenge. The authenticating device generates an authenticatingencryption key by generating the hash of a combination of the challengeand a stored hash of an authenticating device password. Theauthenticating encryption key is used to decrypt the response in orderto retrieve the user supplied password. If a hash of the user suppliedpassword matches the stored hash of the authenticating device password,then the requesting device has been authenticated and the authenticatingdevice is in possession of the password.

Thus, according to one embodiment, there is provided a methodcomprising: defining, at a first electronic device, a first keycomprising a hash generated using both a first value and a hash of asecond value, the second value being input at the first electronicdevice; encrypting the second value using said first key; andtransmitting the second value thus encrypted to a second electronicdevice for decryption by the second electronic device using a secondkey, the second key comprising a hash generated using both a copy of thefirst value stored at the second electronic device and a hash of a thirdvalue stored at the second electronic device.

In one aspect, the first value is received by the first electronicdevice from the second electronic device prior to said defining.

In another aspect, encrypting the second value using said first keycomprises applying the first key to the second value in a block cipheralgorithm.

In still another aspect, encrypting the second value using said firstkey comprises XORing the second value and first key.

In yet another aspect, the second electronic device may be a mobiledevice; and/or the first electronic device may be a personal computingdevice.

In still another aspect, the method further provides the secondelectronic device: receiving the second value thus encrypted from thefirst electronic device; decrypting the second value thus encryptedusing the second key to obtain a decrypted value; and authenticating thefirst electronic device when a hash of the decrypted value matches thehash of the third value.

Still further, the method may comprise the second electronic deviceusing the decrypted value to decrypt data stored at the secondelectronic device; the second electronic device granting the firstelectronic device access to data stored at the second electronic devicewhen the first electronic device is authenticated; and/or the secondelectronic device granting the first electronic device access tosynchronize data stored at the second electronic device with the firstelectronic device.

In yet another aspect, the method further comprises the secondelectronic device: receiving the second value thus encrypted from thefirst electronic device; decrypting the second value thus encryptedusing the second key to obtain a decrypted value; and using thedecrypted value to decrypt data stored at the second electronic device.

The embodiments herein further provide an electronic device, comprising:a key generator configured to generate a first key comprising a hashgenerated using both a first value and a hash of an input second value;an input interface for receiving the second value; an encryptorconfigured to encrypt the second value using said first key; and acommunication module configured to transmit the second value thusencrypted to another electronic device for decryption by the otherelectronic device using a second key, the second key comprising a hashgenerated using both a copy of the first value stored at the otherelectronic device and a hash of a third value stored at the otherelectronic device.

In one aspect, the communication module is further configured to receivethe first value from the other electronic device prior to the keygenerator generating the first key.

In another aspect, the encryptor is configured to encrypt the secondvalue using said first key by applying the first key to the second valuein a block cipher algorithm, and/or the encryptor is configured toencrypt the second value using said first key by XORing the second valueand first key.

In still another aspect, wherein the electronic device is a personalcomputing device.

Still further, the electronic device may comprise a synchronizationmodule configured to synchronize a data store with the other electronicdevice upon the other electronic device authenticating the electronicdevice by verifying a hash of the second value obtained by the otherelectronic device, said second value being obtained by the otherelectronic device decrypting the encrypted second value transmitted bythe electronic device to the other electronic device using the secondkey.

There is also provided a system, comprising: a requesting system,comprising: a communication interface; and a processor in communicationwith the communication interface, the processor being configured to:define a first key comprising a hash generated using both a first valueand a hash of a second value, the second value being received via aninput interface of the electronic device; encrypt the second value usingsaid first key; and initiate transmission of the second value thusencrypted via its communication interface to an authenticating systemfor decryption by the authenticating system using a second key, thesecond key comprising a hash generated using both a copy of the firstvalue stored at the authenticating system and a hash of a third valuestored at the authenticating system; and the authenticating system,comprising: a communication interface adapted to receive the secondvalue thus encrypted from the requesting system; and a processor incommunication with the communication interface, the processor beingconfigured to: decrypt the second value thus encrypted using the secondkey to obtain a decrypted value.

In one aspect, the processor of the authenticating system is furtherconfigured to authenticate the requesting system when a hash of thedecrypted value matches the hash of the third value.

In another aspect, the authenticating system is configured to grant therequesting system access to data stored at the authenticating systemwhen the requesting system is authenticated.

There is also provided a computer readable medium, which may benon-transitory or physical, bearing program code which when executed byone or more electronic devices causes the device to implement themethods described herein.

FIG. 1 is an overview of an example communication system in which awireless communication device may be used. One skilled in the art willappreciate that there may be hundreds of different topologies, but thesystem shown in FIG. 1 helps demonstrate the operation of the encodedmessage processing systems and methods described in the presentapplication. There may also be many message senders and recipients. Thesimple system shown in FIG. 1 is for illustrative purposes only, andshows perhaps the most prevalent Internet e-mail environment wheresecurity is not generally used.

FIG. 1 shows an e-mail sender 10, the Internet 20, a message serversystem 40, a wireless gateway 85, wireless infrastructure 90, a wirelessnetwork 105 and a mobile communication device 100.

An e-mail sender system 10 may, for example, be connected to an ISP(Internet Service Provider) on which a user of the system 10 has anaccount, located within a company, possibly connected to a local areanetwork (LAN), and connected to the Internet 20, or connected to theInternet 20 through a large ASP (application service provider) such asAMERICA ONLINE® (AOL). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that thesystems shown in FIG. 1 may instead be connected to a wide area network(WAN) other than the Internet, although e-mail transfers are commonlyaccomplished through Internet-connected arrangements as shown in FIG. 1.

The message server 40 may be implemented, for example, on a networkcomputer within the firewall of a corporation, a computer within an ISPor ASP system or the like, and acts as the main interface for e-mailexchange over the Internet 20. Although other messaging systems mightnot require a message server system 40, a mobile device 100 configuredfor receiving and possibly sending e-mail will normally be associatedwith an account on a message server. Perhaps the two most common messageservers are MICROSOFT® EXCHANGE and LOTUS DOMINO®. These products areoften used in conjunction with Internet mail routers that route anddeliver mail. These intermediate components are not shown in FIG. 1, asthey do not directly play a role in the secure message processingdescribed below. Message servers such as server 40 typically extendbeyond just e-mail sending and receiving; they also include dynamicdatabase storage engines that have predefined database formats for datalike calendars, to-do lists, task lists, e-mail and documentation.

The wireless gateway 85 and infrastructure 90 provide a link between theInternet 20 and wireless network 105. The wireless infrastructure 90determines the most likely network for locating a given user and tracksthe user as they roam between countries or networks. A message is thendelivered to the mobile device 100 via wireless transmission, typicallyat a radio frequency (RF), from a base station in the wireless network105 to the mobile device 100. The particular network 105 may bevirtually any wireless network over which messages may be exchanged witha mobile communication device.

As shown in FIG. 1, a composed e-mail message 15 is sent by the e-mailsender 10, located somewhere on the Internet 20. This message 15 isnormally fully in the clear and uses traditional Simple Mail TransferProtocol (SMTP), RFC822 headers and Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension(MIME) body parts to define the format of the mail message. Thesetechniques are all well known to those skilled in the art. The message15 arrives at the message server 40 and is normally stored in a messagestore. Most known messaging systems support a so-called “pull” messageaccess scheme, wherein the mobile device 100 must request that storedmessages be forwarded by the message server to the mobile device 100.Some systems provide for automatic routing of such messages which areaddressed using a specific e-mail address associated with the mobiledevice 100. In a preferred embodiment described in further detail below,messages addressed to a message server account associated with a hostsystem such as a home computer or office computer which belongs to theuser of a mobile device 100 are redirected from the message server 40 tothe mobile device 100 as they are received.

Regardless of the specific mechanism controlling the forwarding ofmessages to the mobile device 100, the message 15, or possibly atranslated or reformatted version thereof, is sent to the wirelessgateway 85. The wireless infrastructure 90 includes a series ofconnections to wireless network 105. These connections could beIntegrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), Frame Relay or T1connections using the TCP/IP protocol used throughout the Internet. Asused herein, the term “wireless network” is intended to include threedifferent types of networks, those being (1) data-centric wirelessnetworks, (2) voice-centric wireless networks and (3) dual-mode networksthat can support both voice and data communications over the samephysical base stations. Combined dual-mode networks include, but are notlimited to, (1) Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks, (2) theGroupe Special Mobile or the Global System for Mobile Communications(GSM) and the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) networks, and (3)future third-generation (3G) networks like Enhanced Data-rates forGlobal Evolution (EDGE) and Universal Mobile Telecommunications Systems(UMTS). Some older examples of data-centric network include the Mobitex™Radio Network and the DataTAC™ Radio Network. Examples of oldervoice-centric data networks include Personal Communication Systems (PCS)networks like GSM, and TDMA systems.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a further example communication systemincluding multiple networks and multiple mobile communication devices.The system of FIG. 2 is substantially similar to the FIG. 1 system, butincludes a host system 30, a redirection program 45, a mobile devicecradle 65, a wireless virtual private network (VPN) router 75, anadditional wireless network 110 and multiple mobile communicationdevices 100. As described above in conjunction with FIG. 1, FIG. 2represents an overview of a sample network topology. Although theencoded message processing systems and methods described herein may beapplied to networks having many different topologies, the network ofFIG. 2 is useful in understanding an automatic e-mail redirection systemmentioned briefly above.

The central host system 30 will typically be a corporate office or otherLAN, but may instead be a home office computer or some other privatesystem where mail messages are being exchanged. Within the host system30 is the message server 40, running on some computer within thefirewall of the host system, that acts as the main interface for thehost system to exchange e-mail with the Internet 20. In the system ofFIG. 2, the redirection program 45 enables redirection of data itemsfrom the server 40 to a mobile communication device 100. Although theredirection program 45 is shown to reside on the same machine as themessage server 40 for ease of presentation, there is no requirement thatit must reside on the message server. The redirection program 45 and themessage server 40 are designed to co-operate and interact to allow thepushing of information to mobile devices 100. In this installation, theredirection program 45 takes confidential and non-confidential corporateinformation for a specific user and redirects it out through thecorporate firewall to mobile devices 100. A more detailed description ofthe redirection software 45 may be found in the commonly assigned U.S.Pat. No. 6,219,694 (“the '694 Patent”), entitled “System and Method forPushing Information From A Host System To A Mobile Data CommunicationDevice Having A Shared Electronic Address”, and issued to the assigneeof the instant application on Apr. 17, 2001, which is herebyincorporated into the present application by reference. This pushtechnique may use a wireless friendly encoding, compression andencryption technique to deliver all information to a mobile device, thuseffectively extending the security firewall to include each mobiledevice 100 associated with the host system 30.

As shown in FIG. 2, there may be many alternative paths for gettinginformation to the mobile device 100. One method for loading informationonto the mobile device 100 is through a port designated 50, using adevice cradle 65. This method tends to be useful for bulk informationupdates often performed at initialization of a mobile device 100 withthe host system 30 or a computer 35 within the system 30. The other mainmethod for data exchange is over-the-air using wireless networks todeliver the information. As shown in FIG. 2, this may be accomplishedthrough a wireless VPN router 75 or through a traditional Internetconnection 95 to a wireless gateway 85 and a wireless infrastructure 90,as described above. The concept of a wireless VPN router 75 is new inthe wireless industry and implies that a VPN connection could beestablished directly through a specific wireless network 110 to a mobiledevice 100. The possibility of using a wireless VPN router 75 has onlyrecently been available and could be used when the new Internet Protocol(IP) Version 6 (IPV6) arrives into IP-based wireless networks. This newprotocol will provide enough IP addresses to dedicate an IP address toevery mobile device 100 and thus make it possible to push information toa mobile device 100 at any time. A principal advantage of using thiswireless VPN router 75 is that it could be an off-the-shelf VPNcomponent, thus it would not require a separate wireless gateway 85 andwireless infrastructure 90 to be used. A VPN connection would preferablybe a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)/IP or User Datagram Protocol(UDP)/IP connection to deliver the messages directly to the mobiledevice 100. If a wireless VPN 75 is not available then a link 95 to theInternet 20 is the most common connection mechanism available and hasbeen described above.

In the automatic redirection system of FIG. 2, a composed e-mail message15 leaving the e-mail sender 10 arrives at the message server 40 and isredirected by the redirection program 45 to the mobile device 100. Asthis redirection takes place the message 15 is re-enveloped, asindicated at 80, and a possibly proprietary compression and encryptionalgorithm can then be applied to the original message 15. In this way,messages being read on the mobile device 100 are no less secure than ifthey were read on a desktop workstation such as 35 within the firewall.All messages exchanged between the redirection program 45 and the mobiledevice 100 preferably use this message repackaging technique. Anothergoal of this outer envelope is to maintain the addressing information ofthe original message except the sender's and the receiver's address.This allows reply messages to reach the appropriate destination, andalso allows the “from” field to reflect the mobile user's desktopaddress. Using the user's e-mail address from the mobile device 100allows the received message to appear as though the message originatedfrom the user's desktop system 35 rather than the mobile device 100.

With reference back to the port 50 and cradle 65 connectivity to themobile device 100, this connection path offers many advantages forenabling one-time data exchange of large items. For those skilled in theart of personal digital assistants (PDAs) and synchronization, the mostcommon data exchanged over this link is Personal Information Management(PIM) data 55. When exchanged for the first time this data tends to belarge in quantity, bulky in nature and requires a large bandwidth to getloaded onto the mobile device 100 where it can be used on the road. Thisserial link may also be used for other purposes, including setting up aprivate security key 111 such as an S/MIME or PGP specific private key,the Certificate (Cert) of the user and their Certificate RevocationLists (CRLs) 60. The private key is preferably exchanged so that thedesktop 35 and mobile device 100 share one personality and one methodfor accessing all mail. The Cert and CRLs are normally exchanged oversuch a link because they represent a large amount of the data that isrequired by the device for S/MIME, PGP and other public key securitymethods.

FIG. 3 shows a typical challenge response scheme used by anauthenticating device, such as mobile device 10 to authenticate arequesting device, such as desktop system 35 that may be requesting aconnection to the device 10. When device 10 is connected to the desktopsystem 35, for instance through a serial link such as a universal serialbus (USB) link, the user of the desktop system 35 is prompted to enter apassword in order to authenticate the user to the device 10. The desktopsystem 35 creates a one-way hash of the password provided by the user,and transmits the hash of the password to the device 10. The device 10then compares the hash of the password to a stored hash of the devicepassword. If the two values match, then the user is authenticated andthe desktop system 35 is allowed to form a connection with the device10. In this typical challenge response scheme, only the hash of thepassword is transmitted to the device 10. If the password itself weresent over the communications link, an attacker would be able tointercept the transmission and gain knowledge of the password.

FIG. 4 illustrates a challenge response scheme in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention. In the preferredembodiment, a requesting device, such as the desktop system 35, isconnected to an authenticating device, such as mobile device 10, using acommunications link, such as a universal serial bus (USB) link, throughwhich the requesting device may send a connection request. Theconnection request may be in the form of a software request sent to theauthenticating device, or the detection of a change in a hardware stateof the communications link. The authenticating device detects that aconnection is being requested, and proceeds to authenticate therequesting device in accordance with the challenge response schemedescribed below. It will be understood that the authenticating devicemay only initiate the challenge response scheme if the authenticatingdevice has been secured by a device password (stored_password). In orderto determine if a requesting device needs to be authenticated, theauthenticating device may check for the presence of a hash of the devicepassword H(stored_password) in a memory of the authenticating device. Inother implementations, the authentication device may check for a flagindicating whether the device has been secured.

When the authenticating device detects a connection request, itgenerates a Challenge c to issue to the requesting device. The Challengec may be a group of bits that have been randomly generated by theauthenticating device. Alternatively, the numbers of bits used in theChallenge c may also be randomized. The authenticating device may use ahardware-based random number generator or a software-based random numbergenerator to generate the random Challenge c.

The requesting device prompts the user of the requesting device for apassword user_password. This password is hashed, using known hashingfunctions such as SHA-1, to create H(user_password) which is thencombined with the Challenge c received from the authenticating device.In the preferred embodiment, the Challenge c and the hash of thepassword H(user_password) are concatenated together. It is understoodthat there are different ways in which to combine the two values. Thiscombination of the Challenge c and the hash of the passwordH(user_password) is further hashed in order to generate a requestingencryption key k_(r)=H(C∥H(user_password)) that is used in creating aresponse r to the challenge issued by the authenticating device. Theresponse r is generated by encrypting the password user_password usingknown techniques such as AES or TripleDES. In some implementations, theresponse r may also be generated by applying the XOR function to therequesting encryption key k_(r) and the password user_password. Theresponse r is then transmitted to the authenticating device.

The authenticating device determines an authenticating encryption keyk_(a) by following a process similar to that followed by the requestingdevice. The authenticating device combines the stored hash of the devicepassword H(stored_password) with the randomly generated Challenge c, andthen generates a hash of the combination, in order to generate theauthenticating encryption key k_(a)=H(c∥H(stored_password)). Theauthenticating encryption key k_(a) is used to decrypt the response rreceived from the requesting device. A hash of the decrypted responseH(decrypted_response) is then compared to the stored hash of the devicepassword H(stored_password). If the two hashes match, then the decryptedresponse was the correct device password. Thus the authenticating devicehas authenticated the requesting device. The authenticating device isalso in possession of the device password for use in operations thatrequire the device password. If the two hashes do not match, then theuser did not provide the correct password, and the authenticating devicerejects the connection request from the requesting device, and therebydisallows the connection.

In a further embodiment, the device password is concatenated with arandom salt s, then hashed and stored in the memory of theauthenticating device together with s. Therefore the authenticatingdevice stores (s, H(s∥stored_password)). When the challenge c istransmitted to the requesting device, the salt s is likewisetransmitted, and the requesting device then hashes a concatenation of sand user_password to generate an authenticating encrypting keyk_(r)=(c∥H(s∥user_password)) using the process described above. Once theresponse r is transmitted to the authenticating device, theauthenticating device determines an authenticating encryption keyk_(a)=H(c∥H(s∥stored_password)) by following a process similar to thatdescribed above. The authenticating encryption key k_(a) is used todecrypt the response r received from the requesting device. A hash ofthe decrypted response H(decrypted_response) is then compared to thestored hash of the salted device password H(s∥stored_password). If thetwo hashes match, then the decrypted response was the correct devicepassword.

The systems and methods disclosed herein are presented only by way ofexample and are not meant to limit the scope of the embodimentsdescribed herein. Other variations of the systems and methods describedabove will be apparent to those skilled in the art and as such areconsidered to be within the scope of this description. For example, itshould be understood that steps and the order of the steps in theprocessing described herein may be altered, modified and/or augmentedand still achieve the desired outcome.

As another example, the systems and methods disclosed herein may be usedwith many different computers and devices, such as a wireless mobilecommunications device shown in FIG. 5. With reference to FIG. 5, themobile device 100 is a dual-mode mobile device and includes atransceiver 311, a microprocessor 338, a display 322, non-volatilememory 324, random access memory (RAM) 326, one or more auxiliaryinput/output (I/O) devices 328, a serial port 330, a keyboard 332, aspeaker 334, a microphone 336, a short-range wireless communicationssub-system 340, and other device sub-systems 342.

The transceiver 311 includes a receiver 312, a transmitter 314, antennas316 and 318, one or more local oscillators 313, and a digital signalprocessor (DSP) 320. The antennas 316 and 318 may be antenna elements ofa multiple-element antenna, and are preferably embedded antennas.However, the systems and methods described herein are in no wayrestricted to a particular type of antenna, or even to wirelesscommunication devices.

The mobile device 100 is preferably a two-way communication devicehaving voice and data communication capabilities. Thus, for example, themobile device 100 may communicate over a voice network, such as any ofthe analog or digital cellular networks, and may also communicate over adata network. The voice and data networks are depicted in FIG. 5 by thecommunication tower 319. These voice and data networks may be separatecommunication networks using separate infrastructure, such as basestations, network controllers, etc., or they may be integrated into asingle wireless network.

The transceiver 311 is used to communicate with the network 319, andincludes the receiver 312, the transmitter 314, the one or more localoscillators 313 and the DSP 320. The DSP 320 is used to send and receivesignals to and from the transceivers 316 and 318, and also providescontrol information to the receiver 312 and the transmitter 314. If thevoice and data communications occur at a single frequency, orclosely-spaced sets of frequencies, then a single local oscillator 313may be used in conjunction with the receiver 312 and the transmitter314. Alternatively, if different frequencies are utilized for voicecommunications versus data communications for example, then a pluralityof local oscillators 313 can be used to generate a plurality offrequencies corresponding to the voice and data networks 319.Information, which includes both voice and data information, iscommunicated to and from the transceiver 311 via a link between the DSP320 and the microprocessor 338.

The detailed design of the transceiver 311, such as frequency band,component selection, power level, etc., will be dependent upon thecommunication network 319 in which the mobile device 100 is intended tooperate. For example, a mobile device 100 intended to operate in a NorthAmerican market may include a transceiver 311 designed to operate withany of a variety of voice communication networks, such as the Mobitex orDataTAC mobile data communication networks, AMPS, TDMA, CDMA, PCS, etc.,whereas a mobile device 100 intended for use in Europe may be configuredto operate with the GPRS data communication network and the GSM voicecommunication network. Other types of data and voice networks, bothseparate and integrated, may also be utilized with a mobile device 100.

Depending upon the type of network or networks 319, the accessrequirements for the mobile device 100 may also vary. For example, inthe Mobitex and DataTAC data networks, mobile devices are registered onthe network using a unique identification number associated with eachmobile device. In GPRS data networks, however, network access isassociated with a subscriber or user of a mobile device. A GPRS devicetypically requires a subscriber identity module (“SIM”), which isrequired in order to operate a mobile device on a GPRS network. Local ornon-network communication functions (if any) may be operable, withoutthe SIM device, but a mobile device will be unable to carry out anyfunctions involving communications over the data network 319, other thanany legally required operations, such as ‘911’ emergency calling.

After any required network registration or activation procedures havebeen completed, the mobile device 100 may the send and receivecommunication signals, including both voice and data signals, over thenetworks 319. Signals received by the antenna 316 from the communicationnetwork 319 are routed to the receiver 312, which provides for signalamplification, frequency down conversion, filtering, channel selection,etc., and may also provide analog to digital conversion. Analog todigital conversion of the received signal allows more complexcommunication functions, such as digital demodulation and decoding to beperformed using the DSP 320. In a similar manner, signals to betransmitted to the network 319 are processed, including modulation andencoding, for example, by the DSP 320 and are then provided to thetransmitter 314 for digital to analog conversion, frequency upconversion, filtering, amplification and transmission to thecommunication network 319 via the antenna 318.

In addition to processing the communication signals, the DSP 320 alsoprovides for transceiver control. For example, the gain levels appliedto communication signals in the receiver 312 and the transmitter 314 maybe adaptively controlled through automatic gain control algorithmsimplemented in the DSP 320. Other transceiver control algorithms couldalso be implemented in the DSP 320 in order to provide moresophisticated control of the transceiver 311.

The microprocessor 338 preferably manages and controls the overalloperation of the mobile device 100. Many types of microprocessors ormicrocontrollers could be used here, or, alternatively, a single DSP 320could be used to carry out the functions of the microprocessor 338.Low-level communication functions, including at least data and voicecommunications, are performed through the DSP 320 in the transceiver311. Other, high-level communication applications, such as a voicecommunication application 324A, and a data communication application324B may be stored in the non-volatile memory 324 for execution by themicroprocessor 338. For example, the voice communication module 324A mayprovide a high-level user interface operable to transmit and receivevoice calls between the mobile device 100 and a plurality of other voiceor dual-mode devices via the network 319. Similarly, the datacommunication module 324B may provide a high-level user interfaceoperable for sending and receiving data, such as e-mail messages, files,organizer information, short text messages, etc., between the mobiledevice 100 and a plurality of other data devices via the networks 319.The microprocessor 338 also interacts with other device subsystems, suchas the display 322, the RAM 326, the auxiliary input/output (I/O)subsystems 328, the serial port 330, the keyboard 332, the speaker 334,the microphone 336, the short-range communications subsystem 340 and anyother device subsystems generally designated as 342.

Some of the subsystems shown in FIG. 5 perform communication-relatedfunctions, whereas other subsystems may provide “resident” or on-devicefunctions. Notably, some subsystems, such as the keyboard 332 and thedisplay 322 may be used for both communication-related functions, suchas entering a text message for transmission over a data communicationnetwork, and device-resident functions such as a calculator or task listor other PDA type functions.

Operating system software used by the microprocessor 338 is preferablystored in a persistent store such as non-volatile memory 324. Thenon-volatile memory 324 may be implemented, for example, as a Flashmemory component, or as battery backed-up RAM. In addition to theoperating system, which controls low-level functions of the mobiledevice 310, the non-volatile memory 324 includes a plurality of softwaremodules 324A-324N that can be executed by the microprocessor 338 (and/orthe DSP 320), including a voice communication module 324A, a datacommunication module 324B, and a plurality of other operational modules324N for carrying out a plurality of other functions. These modules areexecuted by the microprocessor 338 and provide a high-level interfacebetween a user and the mobile device 100. This interface typicallyincludes a graphical component provided through the display 322, and aninput/output component provided through the auxiliary I/O 328, keyboard332, speaker 334, and microphone 336. The operating system, specificdevice applications or modules, or parts thereof, may be temporarilyloaded into a volatile store, such as RAM 326 for faster operation.Moreover, received communication signals may also be temporarily storedto RAM 326, before permanently writing them to a file system located ina persistent store such as the Flash memory 324.

An exemplary application module 324N that may be loaded onto the mobiledevice 100 is a personal information manager (PIM) application providingPDA functionality, such as calendar events, appointments, and taskitems. This module 324N may also interact with the voice communicationmodule 324A for managing phone calls, voice mails, etc., and may alsointeract with the data communication module for managing e-mailcommunications and other data transmissions. Alternatively, all of thefunctionality of the voice communication module 324A and the datacommunication module 324B may be integrated into the PIM module.

The non-volatile memory 324 preferably also provides a file system tofacilitate storage of PIM data items on the device. The PIM applicationpreferably includes the ability to send and receive data items, eitherby itself, or in conjunction with the voice and data communicationmodules 324A, 324B, via the wireless networks 319. The PIM data itemsare preferably seamlessly integrated, synchronized and updated, via thewireless networks 319, with a corresponding set of data items stored orassociated with a host computer system, thereby creating a mirroredsystem for data items associated with a particular user.

Context objects representing at least partially decoded data items, aswell as fully decoded data items, are preferably stored on the mobiledevice 100 in a volatile and non-persistent store such as the RAM 326.Such information may instead be stored in the non-volatile memory 324,for example, when storage intervals are relatively short, such that theinformation is removed from memory soon after it is stored. However,storage of this information in the RAM 326 or another volatile andnon-persistent store is preferred, in order to ensure that theinformation is erased from memory when the mobile device 100 losespower. This prevents an unauthorized party from obtaining any storeddecoded or partially decoded information by removing a memory chip fromthe mobile device 100, for example.

The mobile device 100 may be manually synchronized with a host system byplacing the device 100 in an interface cradle, which couples the serialport 330 of the mobile device 100 to the serial port of a computersystem or device. The serial port 330 may also be used to enable a userto set preferences through an external device or software application,or to download other application modules 324N for installation. Thiswired download path may be used to load an encryption key onto thedevice, which is a more secure method than exchanging encryptioninformation via the wireless network 319. Interfaces for other wireddownload paths may be provided in the mobile device 100, in addition toor instead of the serial port 330. For example, a USB port would providean interface to a similarly equipped personal computer.

Additional application modules 324N may be loaded onto the mobile device100 through the networks 319, through an auxiliary I/O subsystem 328,through the serial port 330, through the short-range communicationssubsystem 340, or through any other suitable subsystem 342, andinstalled by a user in the non-volatile memory 324 or RAM 326. Suchflexibility in application installation increases the functionality ofthe mobile device 100 and may provide enhanced on-device functions,communication-related functions, or both. For example, securecommunication applications may enable electronic commerce functions andother such financial transactions to be performed using the mobiledevice 100.

When the mobile device 100 is operating in a data communication mode, areceived signal, such as a text message or a web page download, isprocessed by the transceiver module 311 and provided to themicroprocessor 338, which preferably further processes the receivedsignal in multiple stages as described above, for eventual output to thedisplay 322, or, alternatively, to an auxiliary I/O device 328. A userof mobile device 100 may also compose data items, such as e-mailmessages, using the keyboard 332, which is preferably a completealphanumeric keyboard laid out in the QWERTY style, although otherstyles of complete alphanumeric keyboards such as the known DVORAK stylemay also be used. User input to the mobile device 100 is furtherenhanced with a plurality of auxiliary I/O devices 328, which mayinclude a thumbwheel input device, a touchpad, a variety of switches, arocker input switch, etc. The composed data items input by the user maythen be transmitted over the communication networks 319 via thetransceiver module 311.

When the mobile device 100 is operating in a voice communication mode,the overall operation of the mobile device is substantially similar tothe data mode, except that received signals are preferably be output tothe speaker 334 and voice signals for transmission are generated by amicrophone 336. Alternative voice or audio I/O subsystems, such as avoice message recording subsystem, may also be implemented on the mobiledevice 100. Although voice or audio signal output is preferablyaccomplished primarily through the speaker 334, the display 322 may alsobe used to provide an indication of the identity of a calling party, theduration of a voice call, or other voice call related information. Forexample, the microprocessor 338, in conjunction with the voicecommunication module and the operating system software, may detect thecaller identification information of an incoming voice call and displayit on the display 322.

A short-range communications subsystem 340 is also included in themobile device 100. The subsystem 340 may include an infrared device andassociated circuits and components, or a short-range RF communicationmodule such as a BLUETOOTH® module or an 802.11 module, for example, toprovide for communication with similarly-enabled systems and devices.Those skilled in the art will appreciate that “BLUETOOTH®” and “802.11”refer to sets of specifications, available from the Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers, relating to wireless personal areanetworks and wireless local area networks, respectively.

The systems' and methods' data may be stored in one or more data stores.The data stores can be of many different types of storage devices andprogramming constructs, such as RAM, ROM, Flash memory, programming datastructures, programming variables, etc. It is noted that data structuresdescribe formats for use in organizing and storing data in databases,programs, memory, or other computer-readable media for use by a computerprogram.

The systems and methods may be provided on many different types ofcomputer-readable media including computer storage mechanisms (e.g.,CD-ROM, diskette, RAM, flash memory, computer's hard drive, etc.) thatcontain instructions for use in execution by a processor to perform themethods' operations and implement the systems described herein.

The computer components, software modules, functions and data structuresdescribed herein may be connected directly or indirectly to each otherin order to allow the flow of data needed for their operations. It isalso noted that a module or processor includes but is not limited to aunit of code that performs a software operation, and can be implementedfor example as a subroutine unit of code, or as a software function unitof code, or as an object (as in an object-oriented paradigm), or as anapplet, or in a computer script language, or as another type of computercode.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: defining, at a firstelectronic device, a first key comprising a hash generated using both afirst value and a hash of a second value, the second value being inputat the first electronic device; encrypting the second value using saidfirst key; and transmitting the second value thus encrypted to a secondelectronic device for decryption by the second electronic device using asecond key, the second key comprising a hash generated using both a copyof the first value stored at the second electronic device and a hash ofa third value stored at the second electronic device.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the first value is received by the first electronicdevice from the second electronic device prior to said defining.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein encrypting the second value using said firstkey comprises applying the first key to the second value in a blockcipher algorithm.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein encrypting thesecond value using said first key comprises XORing the second value andfirst key.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the second electronicdevice is a mobile device.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the firstelectronic device is a personal computing device.
 7. The method of claim1, further comprising the second electronic device: receiving the secondvalue thus encrypted from the first electronic device; decrypting thesecond value thus encrypted using the second key to obtain a decryptedvalue; and authenticating the first electronic device when a hash of thedecrypted value matches the hash of the third value.
 8. The method ofclaim 7, further comprising the second electronic device using thedecrypted value to decrypt data stored at the second electronic device.9. The method of claim 7, further comprising the second electronicdevice granting the first electronic device access to data stored at thesecond electronic device when the first electronic device isauthenticated.
 10. The method of claim 7, further comprising the secondelectronic device granting the first electronic device access tosynchronize data stored at the second electronic device with the firstelectronic device.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising thesecond electronic device: receiving the second value thus encrypted fromthe first electronic device; decrypting the second value thus encryptedusing the second key to obtain a decrypted value; and using thedecrypted value to decrypt data stored at the second electronic device.12. An electronic device, comprising: a key generator processorconfigured to generate a first key comprising a hash generated usingboth a first value and a hash of an input second value; an inputinterface for receiving the second value; an encryptor configured toencrypt the second value using said first key; and a communicationmodule configured to transmit the second value thus encrypted to anotherelectronic device for decryption by the other electronic device using asecond key, the second key comprising a hash generated using both a copyof the first value stored at the other electronic device and a hash of athird value stored at the other electronic device.
 13. The electronicdevice of claim 12, wherein the communication module is furtherconfigured to receive the first value from the other electronic deviceprior to the key generator generating the first key.
 14. The electronicdevice of claim 12, wherein the encryptor is configured to encrypt thesecond value using said first key by applying the first key to thesecond value in a block cipher algorithm.
 15. The electronic device ofclaim 12, wherein the encryptor is configured to encrypt the secondvalue using said first key by XORing the second value and first key. 16.The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the electronic device is apersonal computing device.
 17. The electronic device of claim 12,further comprising a synchronization module configured to synchronize adata store with the other electronic device upon the other electronicdevice authenticating the electronic device by verifying a hash of thesecond value obtained by the other electronic device, said second valuebeing obtained by the other electronic device decrypting the encryptedsecond value transmitted by the electronic device to the otherelectronic device using the second key.
 18. A system, comprising: arequesting system, comprising: a communication interface; and amicroprocessor in communication with the communication interface, themicroprocessor being configured to: define a first key comprising a hashgenerated using both a first value and a hash of a second value, thesecond value being received via an input interface of the electronicdevice; encrypt the second value using said first key; and initiatetransmission of the second value thus encrypted via its communicationinterface to an authenticating system for decryption by theauthenticating system using a second key, the second key comprising ahash generated using both a copy of the first value stored at theauthenticating system and a hash of a third value stored at theauthenticating system; and the authenticating system, comprising: acommunication interface adapted to receive the second value thusencrypted from the requesting system; and a processor in communicationwith the communication interface, the processor being configured to:decrypt the second value thus encrypted using the second key to obtain adecrypted value.
 19. The system of claim 18, wherein the processor ofthe authenticating system is further configured to authenticate therequesting system when a hash of the decrypted value matches the hash ofthe third value.
 20. The system of claim 18, wherein the authenticatingsystem is configured to grant the requesting system access to datastored at the authenticating system when the requesting system isauthenticated.